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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

Archives for September 2012

I promised.

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Remember a few days ago when I had my newborn brain moment? Well, I promised when I actually was able to remember to buy everything needed to make the yummy fall recipe that I would check back in. Shockingly, I remembered to do that now.

We dined on roasted sausages, potatoes, apples, and onions last night and it was delicious. Great for all those fall apples! This dinner comes together incredibly easily – it’s great for nights when you really have no energy left to follow directions in a recipe. You chop stuff up, throw it in a dish, roast away, and enjoy the smell while you sip on something to take the edge of your day. B has been hitting the 7 week growth spurt hardcore so my mommy medicine of choice has shifted from wine to any icy vodka tonic. Just one, of course. That’s really all that is needed.

Fall Sausages
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Ingredients
  1. 4 sweet Italian sausages (I used chicken for me)
  2. 3 cups whole small potatoes (I used yukon gold, cut up)
  3. 1 onion, chopping into large chunks
  4. olive oil
  5. 4 springs of fresh thyme
  6. salt & pepper
  7. 2 granny smith apples
  8. 2 TBS cider vinegar
  9. spicy brown or dijon mustard, for serving
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Combine your potatoes and onion in a large baking dish and toss with 1 TBS olive oil, your thyme leaves, salt & pepper.
  3. Place the italian sausage on top of the vegetables and bake uncovered for 45 minutes, until the sausage is brown on top. Flip over the sausage and bake for 10 more minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, chop up your apples (unpeeled) and toss with a little more olive oil, salt, and pepper. Scatter the apples around the sausage, drizzle the cider vinegar over the whole dish, and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve with dollops of mustard, should you choose.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Promise kept!
C

A crispy treat.

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School is in session and if there is one after school treat that rings a bell in terms of my childhood it would have to be rice crispy treats. The smell alone brings up memories of getting off the bus and hoping my mom had whipped up a batch while I was gone.

To be honest, I had forgotten about them until this lazy Saturday morning. (I don’t even care to admit how long we were in our pajamas). The Pioneer Woman was on the Food Network channel and she made her own version of the crispy treats – mini marshmallows added to the end so you get whole chunks in your bites as well as sprinkles on top. Genius. Sprinkles just make everything better – even a bad day at school. Don’t these just look cheerful?

L immediately requested these so I added them to the kitchen to do list for the weekend. I hope they bring a smile to his face! I owe him at least that after the ‘late’ bus pick up.

Crispy Rice Treats
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Ingredients
  1. 4 TBS salted butter
  2. 1 10 ounce bag marshmallows
  3. 1/4 tsp salt
  4. 6 cups rice crispies
  5. 2 cups of additional mini marshmallows
  6. sprinkles for the top
Instructions
  1. Grease a 9X13 pan with softened butter.
  2. Melt your butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Stir in the salt and remove from the heat.
  3. Put your rice crispies in a large bowl and pour the melted marshmallows over them. Stir to combine. Add in the mini marshmallows.
  4. Press the mixture into the prepared pan - a tip! Get the back of your mixing spoon or your fingers, whatever you prefer, damp. Makes it super easy to press the mixture down flat that way.
  5. Now the fun part, the decor! Sprinkle to your hearts content.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

These need to be in serious rotation for special (or rough) school days.
C

Newborn brain.

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So, in my new role as a stay at home mom I find it helpful when I wake up to set goals for the day. I find that structure soothes me and since I no longer have controlled deadlines like I did in the office, I need to create some on my own. They can range from as simple as ‘you literally need to leave the house at some point today as it’s been three days since your last outing’ to ‘finish two loads of laundry, cook, pay bills, organize the creepy room in the basement, call your girlfriend, bake, and get an hour walk in.’ I try not to over do it too often as the boys are a job themselves. As my good friend Heidi (mom of 3) said: ‘it’s an accomplishment if I can wear my hair down for the day.’ My hair is in some semblance of a pony tail as I write this.

So today I woke up with what I thought was a great goal: cook a new recipe and blog about it. Yes, I can definitely accomplish this! I browsed through Dinner A Love Story and came up with the perfect fall treat – roasted sausages over potatoes, onions, and granny smith apples. Extra flavor would come from fresh thyme and apple cider vinegar. Bravo.

I had done a majority of my grocery shopping on the weekend and needed just a few ingredients for my new found recipe. So, armed with my measly list, I entered the store. Now, does anyone find what is written confusing?


Well, apparently I do because I exited the grocery store with zero onions. A key ingredient in my picture perfect fall dinner I had planned as well as my black bean soup I had on the agenda for tomorrow. Of course, this wasn’t realized until 6:00PM and the oven was preheated and ready to roast. What is wrong with me?

The answer is simple. I have a newborn. While some women go through severe pregnancy brain I have the joy of experiencing severe newborn brain. I can’t recall things. Don’t even ask me what I did the night before – I will stare at you like a deer in head lights. I find my keys in weird places, I buy things at stores and drive away with them still in the shopping cart in the parking lot and I attempt to make my morning coffee with formula.

So, refusing to head out at 6:00 with two boys for one item, dinner time had to get a bit creative. I thought the onions were a pretty key ingredient so I opted to just roast some rosemary potatoes with the sausages. The granny smith apples will sit on the counter for another night some time soon, and I’ll be sure to check back in on how it goes. If I can remember.

In other news, B is 6 weeks today (!!!) and had a lot of smiles to prove it. If you’re spending most of your day staring at this kid you might forget a thing or two as well…right…?


I’ll be OK in 6 months or so. Gosh I hope so.
C

Personal chef? Yes please.

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Earlier this week I was blessed not only to have a dinner made for me, but to have it made for me right in my kitchen! My youngest sister Talia, who you’ve met here, joined us for dinner with her adorable new boyfriend Dustin. They came armed with two full Trader Joes bags of deliciousness, including home grown vegetables from Dustin’s garden. Wow, I felt spoiled!


Talia knows her way around a kitchen. I barely blinked and she had everything going and I began to feel more in the way than actually helpful. She came armed to make her specialty – black bean burgers served over a crisp salad full of veggies and topped with peach salsa as the dressing. YUM.

We feasted on her perfect dinner out on the patio while enjoying Dave Matthews Band music, the 75 degree weather, and of course, the boys. You aren’t introduced properly to the family until you have to wrestle with L. Well done Dustin, well done.

Talia's Black Bean Burgers
Serves 4
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Ingredients
  1. 1/4 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
  2. 1 TBS chopped garlic
  3. 2, 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
  4. 2 TBS freshly chopped cilantro
  5. 2 TBS freshly chopped parsley
  6. 1 egg
  7. 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, less if you aren't into a lot of spice
  8. 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  9. 2 tsp cumin
  10. salt & pepper
  11. olive oil
Instructions
  1. In a food processors, pulse onion and garlic until finely chopped. Add 1 can black beans, cilantro, parsley, egg, and red pepper flakes. Pulse to combine.
  2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add the remaining can of black beans and the bread crumbs. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Mix well.
  3. Heat a dash of olive oil on a grill or saute pan to medium heat. Divide your mixture into 4 patties and cook in the pan about 6 minutes a side or until heated through.
  4. Serve on buns, or over a salad topped with peach salsa.
Adapted from Sandra Lee
Adapted from Sandra Lee
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Thank you, Tal!
Courtney

P.S. How cute are they?

Baby weight & lentils.

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French Lentil Soup

So, as many of you know or have put together from this blog, I had a baby recently. I’ve adapted my cooking style accordingly (i.e. using recipes I can do in my sleep) and stuck with what I know rather than branching out too much because, well, this just isn’t the time.

What it is the time for is eating healthy. See, the last 3 months of my pregnancy I really was a content and nice person only when I was sitting in my 67 degree house, in M’s boxers and tee shirt, and watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It was hotter than heck outside (I mean this summer, REALLY????). I was large, uncomfortable, and hungry. Not giving into my cravings too often, this was the perfect show to fulfill my fantasy of double bacon cheeseburgers topped with onion rings and french fries. OMG.

I’m not sure if you have watched that show, but it is impossible to watch without consuming something. So while I wasn’t giving into the deep fried burger cravings, I was munching on something and I wasn’t the only one in the house gaining the pregnancy weight. (wink wink).

So, fast forward to 5 weeks postpartum. My body is closely approaching back to normal (thank you, mom) and I no longer need to watch the food fantasy show nightly. And while I am not one to obsess over a lingering 5 pounds, I am one to obsess over fall clothing and some of it is just not fitting properly just yet (i.e. buttoning). This is the problem and it needs to be resolved before the skinny jeans, boots, and sweaters are here to stay. I just love them too much.

The answer? Well it hit me during a 4:45AM feeding one morning. I was browsing the super credential celebrity blogs and I came across Blake Lively stating that if she ever has an extra few pounds lingering around, she just consumes lentils for a few days. Obviously, everything out of celebrity mouths and printed on gossip sites is completely reliable so that just had to be my answer! Exciting yes, but even more exciting is it gave me a reason to make Ina’s French lentil soup. It had been a while since I had made it and it’s one of my favorites. Bonus that it helps the skinny jeans zip up just a little bit easier.

And hey, I’d keep the extra 5 lbs or even all the extra pregnancy weight if it meant keeping him forever. Love.

French Lentil Soup
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Ingredients
  1. -1 lbs French green lentils
  2. -3 onions, diced
  3. -2 leeks, white parts only, rinsed and diced
  4. -3 cloves garlic, minced
  5. -1/4 cup olive oil
  6. -1 TBS kosher salt
  7. 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  8. 1 TBS fresh thyme, minced
  9. 1 tsp cumin
  10. 8 stalks celery, chopped
  11. 5 carrots, chopped
  12. 3 quarts chicken stock
  13. 1/4 cup tomato paste
  14. 2 TBS red wine
  15. parmesan cheese and bread, for serving
Instructions
  1. Pour lentils into boiling water and let sit for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat your oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, leeks, and garlic until soft, roughly 10 minutes or so.
  3. Add in your seasonings and spices and mix together. Add the celery and carrots and cook until softened, roughly another 10 minutes.
  4. Pour in the drained lentils, chicken stock, and tomato paste. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove the lid and let simmer on the stove for an hour, or until the lentils are soft.
  5. Taste the soup - adjust the seasonings. Right before serving stir in a couple splashes of good red wine. Drizzle with parmesan and serve with warm crusty bread.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

 

Ziiiiiip go the skinny jeans – here’s hoping!
C

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